Thursday, September 27, 2007

Recent Tasting Notes

t IJ Struis (11/20)Should have been another cracking beer from what is now one of favourite producers. Visually stunning, as is common for the house. Perfectly formed medium sized head, offwhite in colour. Glowing orange with a dull red core. Served in a chablis / chardonnay wine, which by the way worked a treat. Sweet candied malts on the nose together with minerals and cinnamon. Flavours unfortunately let the beer down I suspect this one has a bad case of the ’skunks’. Some cinnamon and spice of the palate, but quite mild and disapates as the skunky notes kick in. The palate is surprisingly light for a 9% with the alcohol barely registering any presence. I’ll rate this purely for record keeping purposes but clearly a sound sample would rate near or above 4.0.

De Block Speciale 6 (11/20)Weird. I was under the impression this was a crap Euro mega lager so when the beer poured a murky reddish orange and smelt like a fruity Rodenbach I was, understandably, confused. Aromas are quite good if a bit simple and sugary. Palate is unremarkable but not unpleasant; a very broad and ’flat’ flavour profile of funky malts early but these soon disappear to a macro / mainstream sweet, almost adjunct-like finish. I dunno, kind of ok but you’d never go back for a second.

Snowy Mountains Bullocks Pilsner (6/20)Not real good. Pours like a thousand other industrial pale ales...is this really a pilsner. Muted, daggy malts. Ok,maybe a hint of bohem pilsner there. Tired and stale palate, again maybe just the faintest, fleeting nod to the malt character in Urquell but then falls to bits with a fizzy finish. I don’t know a thing about the folk at Snowy Mountains but I am repeatedly puzzled why crap like this is produced from so called micros. There are no shortage of large brewers making dross like this.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Recent Tasting Notes

Bright Brewery Razor Witbier (15/20)Aromas hit the nose as soon as the beer hits the glass. A quite instense sour lemon and perhaps orange, wafted over 3 feet! And maybe a hint of lambic sourness as well. Impressive. Great to look at; yellow body with a faint orange core. Heavy weight in the mouth. Powerful, almost thick in texture. Citrus fruits not really evident, rather the corriander and spice comes into play. Big thick aniseed finish pushes a bitter edge.

Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale (14/20)Dull copper (or maybe light tan?) with a very thin creamy head. Highly aromatic nose of fruity, herbal resiny hops. Slightly more pedestrian to taste; resiny hops remain and infact they are a touch aggressive, but regardless they define the palate structure well. A touch too fizzy perhaps? This beer is in the next ball park when compared to the ’just going’ stablemates Beez Neez and Redback. (BB 3/08)

Gavroche (15/20)I really liked this beer. Rocky white head early and thne thins sown to a modest foamy residue. Tan / dull copper in colour. Powerful aromas of dark fruits, sweet cakey malts and hints of scotch whiskey. The flavours are Belgian-like with respect to big heavy malts and traces of alcohol heat. It drinks every bit its 8.5% although it lightens a fraction on the finish with an excellent sweet oak finish. Some alcohol derived bitterness comes in very late, as do some pongy / stinky notes.

Recent Tasting Notes

Emerald Hill Stout (10/20)Dark brown with a reddish tinge. Thin creamy mocha coloured head on pouring but disappears almost instantly. Mild roast and chocolate on the nose; milky chocolate perhaps. Not bad. Smooth palate, chocolate and dry roast early, but flavours do fall away somewhat. Looks like a stout at first glance but doesn’t really have the stuffing.

Jamieson Mountain Ale (10/20)Has been an ok beer in the past if well short of spectacular. Brown in colour with a faint ruby hue. Nose is not really inspiring; faint roast and minerals. Very amber ale-like to taste; milky chocolate (mild) and maybe the faintest hint of roast. Underpinned with a slightly cloying sweet note which is not attractive. I’ve had better bottles.

Red Hill Imperial Stout (16/20)Amazing to watch this beer develop upon pouring; beautiful chocolate orange head very early then settles to a mocha colour. Weird but impressive. Body is very very dark brown. Aromas build the beer nicely with fruity brandy characters and funky marzipan notes. It’s all quite elegant but very impressive. Quite mild and settled to taste with more brandy and dark fruits but the palate is very broad, perhaps losing some intensity in the process. A very interesting dark chocolate note kicks in late. Another very good beer from Red Hill.